Report: Seahawks bring in three running backs for workouts

The Seahawks, who have just three running backs on their active roster with Marshawn Lynch not reporting for training camp, reportedly put three tailbacks through workouts on Saturday.

According to Aaron Wilson of National Football Post, the Seahawks took a look at William Powell (Kansas State), Orwin Smith (Georgia Tech) and Phillip Tanner (Middle Tennessee State), all of whom have previous NFL exposure.

The 26-year-old Powell played in 12 games for the Cardinals in 2012, rushing for 217 yards on 60 carries in 13 games. Powell (5-9, 207) also caught 19 passes for 132 yards. Powell also had a brief stint with the Eagles in 2013, but the club waived him with an injury not long after claiming him from Arizona.

Smith, 23, was on the Packers’ practice squad for part of the 2013 season, his first NFL campaign. The Packers waived Smith (6-0, 205) in April.

Tanner (5-10, 208) has the most experience of the trio. The 25-year-old tailback appeared in 39 regular season games for Dallas from 2011-2013, rushing 56 times for 149 yards and two TDs and catching 9-93-0. The Cowboys did not offer him a contract in restricted free agency.

Were the Seahawks to add another back, they would have to make a roster move, as they are at the 90-player limit. Lynch — placed on the reserve/did not report list Saturday, per the NFL’s transactions — doesn’t count against the roster limit.

sorry Cowboys.. you don’t even rate the hate anymore… you are irrelevant

norcalmafia says:Jul 26, 2014 7:46 PM

Word around Oakland from his family is that Marshawn is g9nna retire…

iamdinguskhan says:Jul 26, 2014 7:47 PM

Hawks you need this guy. To think Wilson is everything on the offense is foolish. It’s the balance between Wilson and Lynch that makes their offense click. I understand the teams position but it would be a major hit to not have Lynch this year.Hawks need to find some middle ground with Lynch and get him into camp. as a Redskins fan and we have to play them this year I would not mind if Lynch sat this year.

jeffesky says:Jul 26, 2014 7:48 PM

Reports are poping up he has retired. Stating he has met all his goals and is looking forward to a return to Oakland and continue his work in his home town. Mike Rob did say after the SB Lynch had spoken about retirement and that it was a true consideration.

Hawks are just calling his bluff… AP, LeSean, Charles may just be the last beneficiaries of big contracts. Lynch has a pretty lucrative contract. If you get too greedy, you’ll get lost quick as an RB anymore. I wish the players/agents would just start to understand that there is only so much room under the cap and they have a limited shelf life. Ask for the $ but don’t get ridiculous.

vickspuppy says:Jul 26, 2014 8:04 PM

AP should be ready to move up from the farm team in Minnesota. He’d be at least a suitable backup to Turbin.

Cortez>Sapp says:Jul 26, 2014 8:14 PM

Lynch will show up eventually. Both sides are just playing chicken. But at the end of the day, Lynch can’t afford to lose his salary AND get fined for not showing up.

Well this will give the young guns a chance to prove themselves in preseason. If they do well, Lynch probably will not see a raise. If they struggle, Lynch might get a bump. Might be a mistake to give these young guys a chance, they have looked scary good in limited reps.

First, Lynch enjoys skipping training camp anyway. And if he truly is “doing it for the children”, he won’t leave that much sitting on the table, he’ll cave. It is either this year or next that you’ll start to see some signs of the wear and tear he’s taken as an old school RB1. ‘Hawks were already planning to move to more of a committee anyway in anticipation of this.

Second, Seahawks guards will be much improved this year and the Oline will be healthier than last year. Wilson will improve again heading into his 3rd year in the league. Whoever is running will get good yardage. The offense will be improved with or without Lynch.

Third, there are some things that Michael is better at than Lynch. Plus Turbin remains an above average backup. And they have two guys in Ware and Small who are Lynch proteges in their hard running style. The front office prepared well for this eventuality.

canadiannflfan says:Jul 26, 2014 8:48 PM

I think this is all just the usual posturing on both sides. Lynch is floating the “retirement” balloon, and Schneider/Carroll are bringing in second- (or third-) rate RBs for show (along with their carefully-placed comments about (a) Christine Michael is looking great and (b) we’re going to go to a RB-by-committee. Lynch won’t retire–with $10M to earn in the next two seasons–and none of the three stiffs the ‘Hawks brought in will ever see any game time, beyond pre-season (if that). It will all be settled, before Game 1 of the regular season, along with the usual platitudes about: (a) “we’re very happy to have Marshawn return to the fold; he’s a very important part of our team,” and (b) “I felt I had to ‘look after my family.'” Lord, I wish these guys (Lynch) would stop this greedy posturing. But I guess it’s all part of the “business.”

I hate Seattle Seahawks and their newly found fan base .. But I love watching Lynch play! One of the biggest gamers in the league. Saw previous posts of people saying he’s retiring. Hope that’s not the case. NFL is better with him playing!

Why are you all so naive? This isn’t 1990. Since when did a running back make or break a team? The Seahawks are going to be just fine. All this talk about the demise of the hawks is wishful thinking from a couple haters. The rest of the country knows that the juggernaut up in Seattle is strong as ever.

Tanner was a pretty decent looking back for Dallas. He always seem to be right on the bubble of making the roster. A guy to help get the Seahawks through preseason but not a replacement for Beast mode Lynch.

Whether or not Lynch ends his holdout, the Seahawks are going to have a difficult time repeating as champions, because they lost about as many starters as the Ravens did, and Russell Wilson isn’t any better than Joe Flacco.

The move means nothing. The Seahawks have their tailbacks and need to decide who to keep between Ware, Coleman and Small. Regardless, Lynch will be back, Michael and Turbin will be transitioned in this year to let Marshawn go after next year and life will go on…….this move to add 3 tailbacks means nothing and is boring to even mention.

norcalmafia says:Jul 26, 2014 10:14 PM

No one with a brain would want to live and play in that lame , boring, misarable city

6250claimer says:Jul 26, 2014 10:15 PM

If they want to put pressure on Skittles to report, they’d better bring in some better prospects than these ham & eggers. Might as well have picked up a few day workers out in front of Home Depot.

norcalmafia says:Jul 26, 2014 10:17 PM

Hes dying to get away from that lame place they call Seattle and get back to the Bay Area..Cant blame hime Seattle sucks!

Beastmode and Beastquake are names given to this guy who is a local legend. Meanwhile Sherman gets paid, makes the cover of madden. Legion of Doom has a special intro into the game. Poor guy feels left out. Give him a million more bucks to get over it or suffer the season without a guy who literately wore down a defense in game after game last year.

Those fans who don’t know anything try claim Beast Mode not being at camp kills this team. John Schneider prepared for the loss/decline of the star HB and drafted Robert Turbin and Christine Michael when there wasn’t a need.

OTAS/ Training camp Robert Turbin and Christine have both been looking like studs and getting needed reps. Ideally Beast Mode will be out there but Pete Carroll limits him to keep the wear and tear low as possible. If you think this is the downfall of a championship team you need to start hoping for something else because they are looking for 4th and 5th back.

iamdinguskhan says:Jul 26, 2014 11:00 PM

I hope the Seahawks management is as naive as the fan base to actually believe you don’t need Lynch. Please keep believing that your team will suffer.

Hahah. The seahawks would be foolish to THINK they are the same team without beast mode. AD, McCoy, Charles, Forte all have had injuries and down years. Marshawn hasn’t been hurt is a sure fire 10tds per game in the toughest run defense in the league. Wilson is good. But he’s no Peyton or Brady.

Lynch thinks he deserves more than 5.5 mil a year… only because these sorts of players cry about others that play at their level making more… like a little kid who can’t have 20 candy bars for dinner. I’ll never see 5.5 million in my entire lifetime, let alone to play a game for 1/2 of a year (and that’s counting camp and playoffs). I’d do that crap for 500,000 if offered the opportunity… even if I had the skills of Lynch. Seattle is just a bunch of spoiled brats now that they have ONE ring. HA! You got a long ways to go to prove your worth in the Super Bowl elite teams.

Big Blue On You says:Jul 26, 2014 11:55 PM

Will they be working out any Quarterback?

genebulge says:Jul 26, 2014 11:56 PM

The only loser in this case is Lynch as he has two years left on his contract that if he doesn’t play again is worth about $16 million bucks. If he sits out two season he would be pretty much out of a NFL job again. Say he decides to “teach Seattle a lesson” and hold out, he will have lost all that money plus two years of the down hill side of his career and where is he going to get a job that first makes up the $16 million he pissed away and another big salary. From all I have heard about Michael is that he is looking very impressive and he is more of a break away speedier type back than Lynch. Turbin has always filled in very well when they would need to give Lynch a breather for a few plays which if he signs he wont have to carry the ball so much. If Lynch is playing chicken he is playing it with the wrong bunch of guys as Pete and John want players who give 110% and Paul Allen didn’t become a multi billionaire by being stupid. If Lynch wants to retire that’s his choice and I hope he has saved a lot of his back pay but for a guy driving a new Lamborghini I wouldn’t count on it.

Any reason why Marshawn isn’t as relevant this season. If all goes well, we now also have Percy Harvin receiving handoffs out of the receiver set. If you recall in the Super Bowl blowout, Percy had 45 yards rushing on two end-arounds – which add more dynamics to the Seahawks running game. With Turbin and Christine sharing the ball in the backfield, Harvin’s end-arounds, and Wilson’s scrambling abilities, who needs an “old school” Marshawn? Of course he’s an exciting player to have on the team, as you never know WHEN he’s gonna bust one, but is he irreplaceable? Hardly NOT.

Seattles will not win a SB this season. The downfall will be the pass rush which was the key to their success. The main guys are on the back 9 of their careers and the drop-off in play this year will expose the secondary.

Their record will be hurt by the tough division and without home field in the playoffs, they won’t make it to the promised land.

We do need Lynch to continue this run…. He is legend here but be real he has only got three years left Max. They cant give a huge contact. Although a little more cash this year with a 1 year extension giving him those three… decreased pay in the last two years so he can retire a seattlte legend would be ok.

Lynch is proving his point,Bring in all those running backs,Seattle has beaten the crap out of lynch the last few years..(look at his carries the last 2-years)Lynch knows how important he is to this team. So do the Seahawks,,,….

RegisHawk says:Jul 27, 2014 6:49 AM

I hope the other teams are as naive as the trolls on this board to actually believe PC/JS don’t know what they’re doing. They rebuilt this team in 4 years from 0 to Super Bowl champions.

whenwilliteverend says:Jul 27, 2014 8:17 AM

What can Lynch possibly think he’s going to get? He’s already getting a lot more than RB contracts are going for nowadays. And I agree with Carroll…he signed the contract and now he needs to honor it. Baldwin said that’s a crock and players have no leverage except they always want to get more money after they signed a deal a few years before. I remember DeSean Jackson complaining that he was underpaid because of his salary but that didn’t take into account all the up-front money he got in the bonus. I think money has ruined the game with a great deal of players only wanting money. Once they sign a big contract they only give half effort. I don’t think Lynch fits in that category but he should be happy he got that $30M. As someone else mentioned above, he still has $10M to earn on this current contract. That’s quite a bit more than free agent RBs got this year if I remember correctly.

The Seahawks have the deepest bench in the league. Their game-winning approach continues to be “next man up”. The starters on any other team can be as complacent as they want…their position with the team is practically written in stone. With the Hawks, starters better be on their “A” game if they want to retain their position and they know it. Lynch will be back. He can’t afford to play chicken.

Lynch is sooooo hurting himself. All he’s doing is speeding up the ” Christian Michael” era in Seattle. If you guys haven’t seen him, he’s so talented that one writer who saw him in practice said that Michaels is a top 10 running back right now in this league. He’s that talented. Why do you think Lynch is trying to steal additional monies?

Typical for a hawk fan to call michael one of the best..until he’s proven otherwise, beast is the reason for much of Wilson’s success..something like 1390 yds and 6 yds came from putting Wilson in space on play action..play action only works well when the box is stacked..which is an attribute beast ability to run the ball..

So funny, how these newly aquired fans are..one second they love beast, the next they hate on him..what bandwagon like behavior

Looks like Seahawks imploding… I figured they had another year before having to pay more players but they may not make it… huge mistake paying a role player, Sherman, like a star….

Lynch is.. by far… their most valuable player… he is pretty much the entire offense, with Harvin complementing…. to think you can replace Beast with someone named Christine and a guy with a turbin is truly funny

Clayton says Lynch will come back after missing 5 or 6 practices…the whole money situation just doesn’t work out well for him any other way…what most people fail to see is that when Lynch signed his new contract it was front loaded and a very good contract for a RB..he’s already got a good chunk of his money….With the zone blocking scheme Seattle runs ( derived from Denver’s Alex Gibbs in the late 90’s Bronco’s)…Seattle can still make their running game work…but I still think Lynch will be back…Seattle also has 2 full backs who were decent RB’s in college…Coleman (UCLA) and Ware (LSU)…besides Michael and Turbin.
Lynch really never does much in cap until between the second and third pre season game…at least the last two years

No NFL player is immortal…even the greatest players reach a tipping point when they just can’t perform at the same level. This is one of the toughest thing for fans to come to terms with, as they love their star players and it’s so heartbreaking to watch them deteriorate. Lynch has already begun to show signs of declining. His y/c went from 5.0 in 2012, to 4.2 in 2013. His yardage dropped, and there were games where he just couldn’t seem to get things going.

Not to say that Lynch doesn’t have at least one more good year left in his tank, but 2014 could be the year where his production really starts to slide. And truth be told, Lynch most likely won’t be the RB he was the last 3 seasons. But to say that the Seahawks can’t win without him is moronic, because at some point, holdouts aside, the Seahawks will HAVE to play without him, and given their D and their QB, they still have the ability to win plenty of games, even if there are some newer RB’s filling the position. The NFL is ever evolving, and every team has to overcome these kinds of setbacks; no team is immune.

No one but Lynch knows what might end up happening, but there are only a few possible outcomes. 1. Lynch could retire. 2. Lynch could holdout for at least part, or even all of the season. 3. Lynch could get the money he wants. 4. Lynch could end his holdout and go back to work.

1. This seems unlikely; the fact that Lynch wants more money to secure his foundation for the future and that he would have to pay back $3 million of his signing bonus, makes the odds of this option happening almost zero. I think the threat of retirement is just posturing.

2. A season-long holdout would cost Lynch at least $6 million in lost salaries, some hefty fines, at least $1.5 million in signing bonus. It would also put him in a very poor leverage position should Michael or Turbin have even an average season replacing Lynch.

3. This also seems highly unlikely; these negotitations have reportedly been going on for 4 months. If Lynch would settle for a restructure where they move part of his 2015 salary to 2014 and the Seahawks were willing to do this, it most likely would have already been done. And for the Seahawks to outright give Lynch a new contract for more money, well, that apparently is out of the question, as the Seahawks don’t want 10 or 15 holdouts on their hands in training camp next year.

4. Given how much money an extended holdout and/or retirement would cost Lynch, going back to work seems like the most likely outcome here. Considering that Lynch wants MORE money, losing that money and even more, just seems counter-productive. No one could be stupid enough to loes that kind of moeny when money is their main objective. Lynch amy not have won the SB all by himself with that 39 yard performance, but apparently he thinks he’s solely responsible for winning the game.

This team is built for long term wins how can they say this is are last year when we locked thomes,Sherman ,and lots of other guys pluse Wilson next year are core is stuck in Seattle for years to come goooooo hawks. Go ahead and retire marshawn we got depth at pretty much every pasition so michaels and turbin will shine brite!!!!